Before your brand shouts, let it run the race
Have you ever been advised to make your brand sound more approachable, reasonable, accessible, beautiful, and so on? Despite your marketing efforts with your internal team, something always seems to get missed.
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branding
As an agency, every time we connect with our clients during the initial stages, the first point of discussion is always: “Look at this brand. They are doing so well; we want to be like them.”
Let's park this here for a debate.
Why do brands feel the need to emulate others already in the market? Why do brands think that doing something similar will help achieve more traction? Are brands intimidated by competitors? Or is this the fire within brands to reach a certain point where they look like their competitors? Mull over these questions to find your reasoning.
The market evolves, changes, and shifts every day. A competitor today might not be your competitor tomorrow. Doing what your competitors are doing might help you stay in the game, but this alone won’t help you win the race.
Speaking of races, let's understand the brand game from this perspective.
Winning a race involves the pre-game, the game, and the post-game. Let’s dive deeper!
Before you plan for a race, you need prep time: a mindset to win, a physical routine to maintain the pace, an analysis of your and your competitors’ previous games, and strategic improvement plans.
When you are on the track, don’t worry about your competitor’s stance; focus on yours. At the whistle, you have the choice to either kickstart and slow down or start slow and speed up towards the end. But it’s better to kickstart, slow down, speed up, slow down, and reach the finish line with your full potential.
That’s how you win the race. But that’s not the end. Races don’t end at the finish line. They start another one, leading to your post-game.
Begin with a period to relax and observe how you and your competitor performed. Analyse what went well, what needs improvement, and what strategy to build for your next move.
Then, plan for your next big race!
In a nutshell, marketing is planning a race long before it starts and ending the race to begin a new one.
How would you plan to run this race if you were on the race track? We would love to know!
Conclusion
The blog discusses the common advice brands receive to emulate successful competitors, questioning whether this approach truly benefits long-term success. It draws an analogy between brand strategy and running a race, emphasizing the importance of unique preparation, focus during competition, and continuous improvement.
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